Silver Bullet
by ahsinam33
Summary: It was a normal day with Akane and Ranma fighting like always. But later, Akane gets the news that Ranma was shot. And now she's scared; really scared.


**I'm back! After a long time. Whatever. **

**This is my second Ranma½ fanfic. I hope you like it. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma½. It belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. **_

**Silver Bullet**

It was a normal day for the Tendo household. The day began calmly but it barely took half-an-hour for the fighting and shouting to start.

"RANMA!" yelled Akane as she chased him with her mallet.

"Oh come on, Akane!" shouted Ranma as he dodged her blows. "How many times do I hafta tell ya that I do NOT want to die of food poisoning?"

Yes, it most certainly was a normal day.

When Ranma woke up in the morning, he felt that it was peaceful... a bit too peaceful. He slowly crept down the stairs looking for any signs of danger. And to his horror, he found Akane in the kitchen, cooking his lunch.

After all the incidents in Jusenkyo, Ranma now admitted to himself that he loved Akane. The thought of losing her scared him badly and his heart trembled in fear when he remembered her pale dying face that day. But the truth remained that no matter how much Ranma loved his "uncute fiancée", there was no way he was going to eat the stuff she cooked!

After all, Ranma had a secret desire to marry Akane in the future. Now how would he be able to do that if he died now? Simple logic.

But of course he couldn't actually _tell_ that to Akane. So he resorted to hurling all those stupid insults at her.

"I'd rather starve to death than eat your cooking!"

"Oh really?" asked Akane, tears forming in her eyes. "Then take this!"

Akane brought her mallet down on Ranma and leaving his unconscious form lying on the ground, she stormed out of the house and headed for school.

...

At school, Akane was in a furious mood. "I worked so hard to cook his lunch and all he can do is insult me!" she murmured to herself in frustration. She looked back at Ranma's empty desk and sighed. She was angry with him no doubt but she was still worried. The second class had begun but Ranma hadn't arrived at school yet.

Akane hoped that he was alright. _"But then again, what could happen to that arrogant jerk?"_ she thought to herself. _"He's probably at home sleeping or training. It's not like he even cares about school anyway." _

Akane snorted as she thought of what he once told her. _"I'm a martial artist and a martial artist doesn't need good grades!"_

Before Ranma's chaotic apearance in her life, Akane always used to believe that she would fall in love with a kind, sweet, serious and smart guy. Someone like Doctor Tofu. But she ended up falling for the biggest jerk in Tokyo who was the most insensitive person she had ever met.

But she couldn't say that she regretted it. _"Ranma can be sweet at times," _Akane thought, a small smile forming on her lips. _"And it's not like he's stupid or anything..."_

"Miss Tendo," a voice called, interrupting her thoughts. It was the teacher.

"_Uh oh," _thought Akane, _"Teacher must have caught me daydreaming. Honestly, Ranma gets me into trouble even when he's not here!"_

Akane stood up as the teacher approached her. But instead of scolding her or telling her to stand outside the class, he handed a piece of paper to her. "A note from the principal," he said. "You can pack up and leave."

Akane gave him a confused look and then looked down at the paper in her hand. Her body froze as soon as she read it.

_Miss Akane Tendo,_

_Your family called to inform me that your fiancé has been injured and is admitted in the Nerima Hospital. You may go to the hospital. A car is waiting for you at the gate and will take you to there. You are permitted to leave the school now._

_Principal Kuno_

Akane quickly packed her things and left the entire class to wonder what was going on. She quickly walked down the corridor and as soon as she reached outside, she started running, tears streaming down her face. If _Ranma _was in the hospital, it had to be something serious. Akane got into the car and it drove away. "Ranma," she sobbed. "Please be OK. Please."

...

"Ranma!" wailed Nodoka at the hospital. Genma tried his best to console her but to no avail.

"What am I going to tell Akane!" shouted Mr. Tendo. "That her fiancé is no longer here?"

"Dad," said Nabiki as calmly as she could. "Ranma's not dead yet."

"But... but..." muttered Mr. Tendo.

"Father, please calm down," said Kasumi as she motioned to him to sit down.

Nabiki noticed Akane coming towards them and told the family, "Please, let me do the talking."

As Akane came up to them, Nabiki realized that she had been crying. He eyes were red and puffy and she was still sniffing. "Where's Ranma?" Akane asked. "What happened to him?"

Nabiki went up to her and said, "First calm down Akane."

"Where is he?" Akane almost shouted.

"Don't panic, Akane."

"Please Nabiki, tell me where he is. What happened to him?"

Nabiki took a deep breath and said, "He was shot."

"What?" screamed Akane. Ranma was shot? He got _shot_?

Akane's breathing became heavy as she jumped to the worst of conclusions. Tears rolled down her face. "No," she muttered. "No. It can't end like this. It can't!"

"Akane," Nabiki said softly. "Ranma's alive. The doctor said that if Ranma regains consciousness then he's out of danger; he'll be fine then. And Ranma's such a strong guy. He'll be okay. Don't worry."

But even as Nabiki said these words, tears welled up in her own eyes. How could they not worry? And Ranma still wasn't out of danger. But she couldn't cry. She had to be strong for her little sister.

Though Akane was afraid to ask how the whole incident occurred, she still did. She had to know who tried to kill her Ranma!

"How did this happen?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Five minutes after you left for school, Ranma left too," Nabiki explained. "While he was on his way, he saw a few police officers chasing a gang of robbers. Ranma ran off to help the officers and knocked out most of the robbers. But just before Ranma could jump on the last robber, the guy took out his gun and shot Ranma in the stomach. The officers were the ones who brought him to the hospital."

Akane stared at Nabiki for a while and then muttered, "So he was trying to be a hero; he went after some armed robbers. Ranma's stupider than I thought!"

But Akane wasn't angry; she was shaking uncontrollably and she closed her eyes, allowing endless tears to run down her face. Nabiki pulled the crying girl into a strong embrace and tried her best to console her. After a few minutes Nabiki suggested, "Why don't you go into his room and sit beside him? Go and talk to him. Your words might help him to wake up."

Akane looked up at her sister and Nabiki nodded at her with a soft smile.

"Go, Akane," said Mrs. Saotome. "Nabiki's right. You mean a lot to my son after all. Even if he won't admit it."

"OK," said Akane and, wiping her tears, she entered the room which Nabiki pointed at. And for the first time in history, nobody dared to interfere or even eavesdrop.

There he was, her beloved Ranma. The Ranma who never accepted defeat, who was always strong and always fit; that same Ranma was lying in a hospital bed unconscious, fighting for his life. Akane sat in the chair next to his bed and stared at his handsome face. Ranma looked so weak and ... vulnerable.

"Ranma," Akane said. "Please, wake up. Everyone's worried sick about you. And, to speak the truth, I'm scared to death."

Akane took a deep breath and continued, "Honestly, it's funny isn't it? We're always fighting and teasing each other and sometimes, I seriously wonder if I would have been better off without you. But now that there's the risk of losing you, I'm so scared, so afraid. I know you feel the same way when I'm in danger. I got proof of that a few months ago in Jusenkyo." Akane let out a light laugh remembering how happy she felt when she heard him say that he loved her.

"But you're an idiot, you know that? You tell me that you love me and then you take it back. You can be so brave at other times and such a coward when it comes to this matter. What are you afraid of? Rejection?" Akane let tears roll down her face again.

"If that's the case then listen to me. You shouldn't be afraid of me rejecting you because I wouldn't want to be with anyone else but you. And you know why? It's because I... I... I love you Ranma!"

Akane broke down completely and looked at Ranma's pale face. She gasped when she saw his eyebrows twitching. "Ranma?" she whispered.

Ranma opened his eyes slowly and looked around. He squinted his eyes trying to adjust to the light. And then he turned to Akane with a small smile and said softly, "Don't cry Akane. It hurts me when you cry."

Akane wanted to jump up and scream for joy. Ranma woke up! He was alive! Akane let out a sigh of relief and thanked God. She was so happy!

The doctors were called and after examining him they said that he was out of danger and there was nothing to worry about now. The entire family was relieved. Of course, Kodachi, Shampoo and Ukyo came to visit him and so did Kuno, Mousse and Ryoga. (I wonder how Ryoga managed to arrive at Nerima on this particular day...)

Ranma and Akane were alone only after about five hours. Everyone had left and only Akane was in the hospital to accompany Ranma.

"You feeling okay?" Akane asked.

"Better than before," replied Ranma.

"You really scared us."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Yeah, nobody gets shot on purpose."

Ranma laughed. Akane looked at him and smiled.

"Well, I guess I should be leaving now," said Akane reluctantly. "You should get some rest."

"Yeah, I guess so. I'm really tired."

Akane got up to leave. Just as she was going to open the door, she heard Ranma's voice.

"Uhm, Akane?"

"Yes?" she asked turning around. She saw him sitting up in his bed and ran over to help him up. But Ranma raised a hand saying, "It's okay."

"Well, what is it?" Akane asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

Ranma gulped and mustering up all the courage he had said, "Akane, I... I love you too."

And Ranma swore that he had never before seen a bigger and brighter smile on Akane's face.

...

**Author's notes: So, this was my second Ranma½ fanfic. D****id you like the story? If you did, please review. I'd like to remind you that reviews encourage authors to write even more!**


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